Chapter 253:
Ji Chengfeng smiled faintly, lifted his hand to pour her tea, and said, “Wanwan can call me Chengqian.”
Chengqian was his courtesy name.
It was nothing for peers to call each other by courtesy names, but Xie Wanning inexplicably recalled Chen Xi’er’s words, her heart thumping unavoidably, and she subconsciously raised her eyes to look across.
What met her eyes was the young man’s handsome eyes, gentle and upright, with refined and handsome features; in the instant she looked over, a faint ripple seemed to stir in the calm depths of those eyes.
“…” Xie Wanning fell silent for a moment, her lips moved, and she said, “I’d better call you Cousin, otherwise Elder Brother will say I’m rude again.”
As soon as she spoke, Ji Chengfeng’s gaze flickered slightly, he looked at her fixedly, and suddenly smiled.
“Alright, Cousin it is.” He smiled and said, “Wanwan is bold enough to come to the South alone, yet so awed by her own elder brother.”
“It’s not the same.” Xie Wanning pursed her lips.
She just wouldn’t say exactly where it was different.
Ji Chengfeng didn’t ask, merely sipping his tea leisurely with a smile in his eyes.
Xie Wanning felt that the previously relaxed and natural atmosphere had become somewhat awkward, so she also picked up her teacup and took a sip.
Seeing that the person across from her still wasn’t leaving, she couldn’t help but say, “Cousin, coming here to talk to me about the Li Family—won’t it delay your time?”
Compared to the smooth maneuvering in officialdom, these words were bluntly sigh-worthy.
Ji Chengfeng smiled lightly, showing no displeasure at being asked to leave; he picked up the teapot to fill her cup and asked, “Does having tea and chatting like this with me make Wanwan uncomfortable?”
Had he revealed his feelings too obviously, letting this young lady see through it?
Ji Chengfeng thought about it imperceptibly; before Xie Wanning could reply, he said again, “That is my fault.”
“But Wanwan need not feel uncomfortable or overthink it.” He smiled and said, “You saved my life, so treating you a bit better is only natural.”
Without this young lady’s absurd fortune telling and those few words of guidance, he would likely be in dire straits by now.
Ji Chengfeng had never told anyone about such things, but now that the crisis had passed, he realized what great kindness it was.
Xie Wanning felt gratified deep down, but on the surface she politely said, “I was just speaking casually without any basis; it was Cousin who was willing to believe a boudoir girl like me, and we luckily helped you out.”
In that situation at the time, if it had been someone else who heard it, they might have just taken it as a joke from a proper boudoir lady.
Only she, this Top Scholar cousin, not only listened seriously, but took it to heart and, following her reminder, changed his travel route.
And in doing so, also changed the course of his own life.
However, after Ji Chengfeng stated that she had saved his life, Xie Wanning felt a bit less uncomfortable.
There was a sense that she wasn’t just freeloading off his care.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, she had truly changed his fate.
Having relived her life once, there were many things she wanted to strive to correct, and the one she most wanted to correct was her romantic entanglement with Lu Ziyan, yet it kept circling back inescapably.
In the end, she only felt regret over the death of this brilliant cousin, and on a whim casually offered a few words of guidance, which instead turned around his deadly fate.
She was his lifesaver.
No matter how polite and considerate he was, she deserved it.
Ji Chengfeng saw the shift in her mindset at a glance, and the smile on his face grew even warmer.
“Alright, I won’t disturb you here anymore.” He slowly rose, his gaze falling on her slightly bulging belly, and said, “The weather is turning cool; remember to add a piece of clothing when you go out for walks.”
